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The Solution

I have pondered the present day situation in America and the rest of the world, have experienced 76 years of life and have drawn some conclusions about where we find ourselves and how we arrived here.

Why do we have hunger in a nation that is not only capable of feeding itself but of producing massive food exports and actually pays farmers to let part of their arable land lie fallow?

Why do we have street crime, corporate crime, racial prejudice, untreated disease, child abuse, greedy politicians and a blue million other things that cause misery in somebody's life?

Why are there thousands of men who father children and walk away from the responsibility, knowing in many instances that abandoning the child sentences it to a life of abject poverty and running wild on the streets?

Why do people produce and sell drugs they know will ruin inestimable lives and cause violent crime and murder?

The examples could go on and on - examples of man's inhumanity to man, mass slaughter to repress opposition, genocide to stamp out a whole race of human beings, the murder of untold millions of unborn babies, telling lies for political gain. The list is endless.

Why is corporate greed so prevalent in today's society? Why is it that big companies don't care who they hurt as long as the profits keep rolling in and the stock keeps going up? So, they move their manufacturing facilities offshore and close down factories that support whole towns without losing a wink of sleep.

Why would the world turn a blind eye to children being sold into slavery and trafficked around the world like livestock to line the pockets of abhorrent men?

Why are our children so poorly educated and so unequipped to enter the workplace?

Why indeed?

If you ask politicians, they're apt to tell you that we don't spend enough money on our social problems. But, over the last half century, America has spent untold billions of dollars and the ghettos are still there, the prisons are still full and Johnny still can't read.

There are international conferences, peace treaties, shuttle diplomacy, foreign aid, nation building and the feckless United Nations threatens and blusters and deploys its toothless peace-keeping forces around the world.

And, yet, genocide is still being practiced, millions of people die from preventable diseases and starvation, affluent nations still sell state-of-the-art weapons to tyrants to suppress their people and foreign aid treasure ends up in the Swiss bank accounts of petty dictators who can watch a child die from hunger and never bat an eye.

So, why, after thousands of years of civilization, progress and prosperity does mankind still cheat and lie and take advantage of weaker people to gain wealth and power? Why is the "looking out for number one" attitude so prevalent in the world today and why do things seem to just keep on getting worse?

The human race, for the most part, has come to the point where it just doesn't care what happens to other people.

Believe it or not, the answer to the dilemma is simple, but the implementing of the answer is complex beyond comprehension.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He responded that it is to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In fact, He said that the law and the message of the prophets were contained in these two commandments. In other words, if you obey these two, you will be obeying all the others.

Every problem that plagues mankind has its root in people disobeying these two commandments.

If we love God with all our heart, we won't have any other gods that rule our lives and whatever takes the major part of our energy and attention is a "god." Greed can be a god, pornography can be a god, drugs, jealousy, envy, the lust for power, and a thousand other vices, emotions and ambitions can take over such a large amount of our time and energy they become gods and take our attention away from the true God and His righteousness.

If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we don't want to see him go hungry or without a roof overhead, we won't cheat with his wife behind his back or steal from him. We don't want to see someone bigger and stronger come along and persecute him.

If we love God with all our hearts, we are infused with God's love, His compassion and His mercy.

I am not naive enough to think that all the people who practice evil in the world will read what I have written, snap their fingers and say, "Well there it is, let's all start doing that."

No, I'm not, but if my humble column can in any way touch even one human being with this eternal truth, it has well been worth the writing.